Unicorn challah (Shannon Sarna)
(The Nosher via JTA) — I don’t know when the craze over “unicorn foods” became the trend, but it’s hard to scroll through Facebook or visit a Starbucks without seeing an explosion of pastel colors and sweet flavors. My colleague Rachel Edelman created some eye-catching unicorn hamantaschen for Purim… Read more »
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaking to the media in Berlin, April 19, 2016. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump wants a deal with Israel and the Palestinians. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders say they want Trump to make the deal. What could go wrong? For all the good cheer guaranteed when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meets Wednesday with Trump at the… Read more »
Jennifer Stempel's recipe was inspired by the similarities between a knish — pictured here from New York's Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery — and an empanada. (Eric Hunt/Wikimedia Commons)
(The Nosher via JTA) — When I think of knishes, like most people, I think of New York Jewish deli-style discs of creamy potato or savory meat enveloped by a flaky crust. Potato knishes are my favorite because they act as a vehicle for as much good, grainy mustard… Read more »
Jair Bolsonaro is a deeply divisive figure in Brazil's Jewish circles. (Udo Kurt)
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) – A few days before they read from the Passover Haggadah about how God split the Red Sea waters, Brazilian Jews have never felt so split between right and left. At the center of the divide, although hardly in the Moses role, is Jair Bolsonaro,… Read more »
Easy Maamoul (Shlomo Schwartz)
(The Nosher via JTA) — Maamoul is a traditional small pastry from the Levant (the historical area between Syria in the north and Egypt in the south including Lebanon, Israel and Palestine). Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in the area alongside each other for over 1,500 years and shared… Read more »
Shane Baker, left, and Caraid O'Brien in the New Yiddish Rep's current production of "God of Vengeance." (Ronald L. Glassman)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Veteran actor Shane Baker has performed in three productions of “God of Vengeance,” Sholem Asch’s Yiddish classic about a brothel-owning family and their daughter’s lesbian relationship. Currently playing to sold-out audiences at New York’s Theatre at St. Clement’s Church, the play — which was first… Read more »
A new organization hopes to lure young adults in their 20s and 30s back to camp. (Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — The campers wake up in their cabins on Friday morning, dress and go to breakfast. Next comes a range of activities — arts and crafts, archery, kickball. Then, after an hour of primping and preening for Shabbat, they gather as the sun sets and head… Read more »
Michael Solomonov, left, stars in a new documentary about Israeli cuisine. (Florentine Films)
(JTA) — “I thought it was just going to be about falafel and hummus.” That was the perception of Israeli cuisine that filmmaker Roger Sherman had when he reluctantly decided to accompany his friend, the acclaimed Jewish cookbook writer Joan Nathan, on a food tour of Israel in 2010. But the reality exceeded… Read more »
Jewish Funders Network President Andres Spokoiny speaking at the group's international conference, March 20, 2017. (JFN)
ATLANTA (JTA) — For decades, the Lippman Kanfer family has focused its philanthropy on local Jewish communities and national initiatives to teach Torah — funding causes from the Anshe Sfard Congregation in Akron, Ohio, to a Jewish day school network. But since Nov. 8, Election Day, the family has… Read more »
Shir Yorkevitz, right, and two other teachers dressed as Rosie the Riveter flexing at a middle school in Herzliya, Israel, March 8, 2017. (Courtesy of Yorkevitz)
TEL AVIV (JTA) – Wonder Woman, Rosie the Riveter and a female Israeli fighter pilot walked into a bar. They were just a few of the heroines out in Tel Aviv Saturday for the night of Purim. With International Women’s Day falling a day before the holiday weekend this… Read more »
Sophie Golden, in striped shirt and headband, uses social media to coordinate meet-ups with her camp friends. (Davina Golden)
(JTA) — For 12-year-old Sophie Golden, camp is “kind of like a different world,” where electronics are a no-go and her bunkmates feel more like sisters than friends. When she misses that feeling during the year, there’s an easy way to get it back, even if just for a… Read more »
Staff and campers at Camp Modin. (Courtesy of Camp Modin)
(JTA) — Wondering if your child is ready for overnight camp? A sure sign, according to Karen Alford, a sleepaway camp consultant, is that he or she has grown tired of day camp. “At 9 , you’ve probably been doing day camp for several years,… Read more »
Shahaf Ben-Yakov (Courtesy of Pride in Blue and White)
TEL AVIV (JTA) – Shahaf Ben-Yakov always found it maddening when her ability as a combat soldier was questioned just because of her gender. Nonetheless, she dismissed as nonsense the notion that army service “has driven our girls crazy” — as a rabbi who runs a pre-military academy in the Eli… Read more »
Protestors demonstrating at a rally at Independence Mall in Philadelphia. March 2, 2017. (Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Shots fired into a classroom window at an Indiana synagogue. Cemeteries desecrated in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and New York. Swastikas scrawled on Jewish buildings. More than 100 bomb threats called in to Jewish community centers. History doesn’t always repeat itself, but echoes of the darkest chapters serve as… Read more »
A match at the Israeli catchball tournament in Kfar Saba, Feb. 21, 2017. (Courtesy of the Israel Catchball Association)
TEL AVIV (JTA) – Every week, thousands of women across Israel gather to play a sport almost no one outside the country has heard of. For that matter, few Israelis knew about catchball – or “cadur-reshet” in Hebrew — a decade ago. But in recent years it has become… Read more »
Rice Krispie Treat Hamantaschen (Rebecca Pliner)
(The Nosher via JTA) — As a former chef and pastry chef, I had many delicious sweet and savory treats in mind to turn into hamantaschen for this year. But I wanted to keep it simple enough to re-create in a home kitchen, yet something different to also get… Read more »
Brisket tacos. (Gabi Moskowitz)
(The Nosher via JTA) — “Leftover brisket” is something of an oxymoron, since traditional braised Ashkenazi brisket is usually the first thing to run out on most dinner tables. But at my little table of two, it’s rare that my husband and I can finish even the smallest of briskets by ourselves.… Read more »
Eliezer Sobel's mother, Manya, reading his first book for adults with memory loss, "Blue Sky, White Clouds." (Courtesy of Eliezer Sobel)
NEW YORK (JTA) — The book is large and fits comfortably on a lap. The color photographs nearly fill each page. Each image depicts real people doing everyday Jewish things — a young girl eating matzah ball soup; a bubbe and her grandchildren lying in the grass; a man wearing… Read more »
Lightened-up kasha varnishkes (Shannon Sarna)
(The Nosher via JTA) — Kasha varnishkes is a much beloved Ashkenazi comfort food dish. Traditionally made with bow tie pasta, onions, schmaltz and kasha (buckwheat), it is filling, comforting peasant food at its best. I wanted to add a little bit of healthfulness into the traditional recipe, so we decided to swap… Read more »
At Camp Ramah of the Rockies, campers live in tent cabins with no electricity or running water. (Camp Ramah of the Rockies)
(JTA) — In the summer of 2010, with just hours to go before campers arrived for the first day of the first season of Eden Village Camp, director Yoni Stadlin got some bad news from the health department: A procedural issue had delayed the issuance of a permit and… Read more »
